Traditional ABR video delivery systems rely on encodings of video assets across multiple bitrates and resolutions, which may be transported over Internet Protocol (IP) networks using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). ABR content may also be encrypted using Digital Rights Management (DRM) techniques to prevent content theft. Such developments render the content indistinguishable from regular web pages, which are also transported using HTTP. As a result, IP routers along the network path to a consumer may not be able to implement techniques for facilitating high quality delivery based on service differentiation, potentially causing an unsatisfactory service experience for consumers. Furthermore, conventional bandwidth management techniques operating at routers provide a minimal improvement at best, especially in the context of ABR video traffic.
It is also known that ABR can result in unfair and sometimes incongruous apportionment of bandwidth in a network. Since the bandwidth usage is typically determined by a client requesting the content, and because the ABR clients can be opportunistic, they may become greedy. Traditional bandwidth management schemes are deficient in a multi-client environment, however, especially where the negative effects of a greedy client become more pronounced in the presence of a duty cycle of another ABR client. Additionally, different clients behave differently and often unpredictably, which poses further challenges to a network provider that aims to provide a more consistent quality of service across the board in the network.